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The news that New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton coule potentially become a free agent following this season was big news on Sunday, and big news that the media latched onto in terms of the possibility that he could go to Dallas. The Cowboys’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons Sunday night didn’t quiet any of that chatter, but Stephen Jones — son of Jerry Jones and vice president with the Cowboys — does his best to do just that in this interview. And news that Payton can have negotiations for a new deal in New Orleans probably won’t hurt his cause. Stephen Jones joined 105.3 The Fan in Dallas with Elf and Slater to discuss if he and his father are on the same page with Jason Garrett being the head coach and play-caller, if there are discussions to change that situation, if this team is good enough, his father getting locked out of the locker room and Sean Payton’s free agency.
Do you and your father agree on most things or do you have heated sports discussions like many regular guys do with their dads?:
“You’re not always at agreement, but at the end of the day you talk through it all. And of course you have someone who’s the boss and you have the other one who’s not necessarily the boss, but the good news is everyone has a fair shot to influence.”
Are you guys on the same page in terms of Jason Garrett being the head coach and the guy calling the plays?:
“Yes, absolutely. That’s the way we designed it. I think everything’s always up for discussion and you see if there’s better ways to do it. If you look around the look, people evolve back and forth. There’s a lot of different ways to go about it. People have had success doing both, and it’s obviously something that there’s not necessarily a right answer to it, but you certainly look at it.”
Have you guys talked about possibly changing that current situation?:
“No we haven’t. We haven’t had any serious discussions about it. We’re always with Jason and always talking about things. How do we get better? How do we improve? We discuss a lot of things internally. I’m not saying what.”
Is this team good enough?:
“I think so. I really do. We’re going in a good direction in terms of, we’re starting to eliminate some of the mistakes. We’re reducing our penalties. We battled [New Orleans], didn’t make any mistakes, didn’t beat ourselves. … But I do see where we’re improving and I think that’s what we have to continue to do. If we continue to not make mistakes and continue to do reduce our penalties, I think good things are going to eventually come.”
What was the situation with your father getting locked out of the locker room after the game?:
“I was right there. What they do is they hold the door because there’s media there, there’s different people coming in and out. He hit the door and said, ‘It’s Jerry,’ and they didn’t realize it was him and they let him in. … Once they figured out it was him, they let him right in. It was nothing contentious.”
With the news coming out of coach Sean Payton being a free agent, is it hard not to entertain that idea?:
“That has nothing to do with us. He’s the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, although he’s suspended, and that has nothing to do with us.”
When you see the Cowboys march right down the field in the two-minute drill, do you wonder why your team isn’t doing more of that?:
“I think anything, you’re looking for answers when you’re not putting up a lot of points. And obviously there on the road, we didn’t put up a lot of points, but at the same time, we did some good things. We protected the ball, but you take a look at everything and everything’s up for grabs when you’re not winning.”
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